Slim Whitman is ALIVE!

Ladies and gentlemen, it's official!

On 1-21, I received an e-mail from a normally very reliable source which stated that Slim Whitman had passed away. I verified this by checking Wikipedia, then proceeded to write an obituary in tribute to the man.

The story quickly became muddled however, as no other outlets were reporting the death. It was originally reported in The Tennessean, but all but the title of the story disappeared the following day. I quickly began receiving queries from concerned fans asking where I'd gotten my information. They were convinced, rightly so as it turns out, that Mr.Whitman was alive and well.

I'd like to thank the members of The Steel Guitar Forum for their original queries and information which they passed along to me. For you guys, here are some real news reports:

From The Florida Times Union:

Rumors that country crooner Slim Whitman died Sunday on his 84th birthday are, as they say, “greatly exaggerated.” Online and mainstream media reports that the famous Middleburg resident had died are wrong, he told the Times-Union today.

“I can still sing,” he said. “If you are dead, you can’t sing.” Whitman said he learned a day or so ago that an old friend was reporting that Whitman had died on his birthday.
“It got all over,” Whitman said.

And, from the original source of the premature obit, The Tennessean:

Slim Whitman would like to clear something up: He’s alive and doing pretty well despite reports of his death on Monday.

The country singer, who experienced his first surge in popularity in the ’50s, has no idea how it got started. But e-mails began circulating and next thing you know, a disc jockey was announcing it on the air, a tearful friend performing on stage was announcing it to his audience and online sources reported it in news updates, including Tennessean.com on Monday.
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“All of a sudden on Sunday, Jan. 20, I died,” said Whitman, who turned 84 on Sunday. “I knew it was a lie. I kept looking at it. I thought, this could sort of get out of hand here. I thought, oh well, if it gets out of hand, I’ll go on a TV show and show them that I’m not dead.”

Whitman lives on his Woodpecker Paradise estate outside Jacksonville, Fla. He says he’s in great shape. The only medication he takes is an aspirin every other day because his doctor told him to. He doesn’t even wear glasses.

“As a matter of fact I don’t feel anything like 84 years old. …I don’t know why I don’t, but I don’t feel like an old man,” he said. The fact that people recognize him in the grocery store still leads him to believe he doesn’t look like an old man either.

This morning, Whitman spent time on the air for a Jacksonville radio station and he has gotten many inquiries since the news of his death circulated.

Great news for fans, and obviously Mr.Whitman! May you have many more years of great health and happiness!